'Band of Brothers' vet William Guarnere dies

This Nov. 11, 2004 file photo shows William "Wild Bill" Guarnere participating in the Veterans Day parade in Media, Pa. Guarnere, one of the World War II veterans whose exploits were dramatized in the TV miniseries "Band of Brothers."

PHILADELPHIA -

William "Wild Bill" Guarnere, one of the World War II veterans whose exploits were dramatized in the TV miniseries "Band of Brothers," has died. He was 90

His son, William Guarnere Jr., confirmed Sunday that his father died at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Guarnere was rushed to the hospital early Saturday and died of a ruptured aneurysm early Saturday night.

The HBO miniseries, based on a book by Stephen Ambrose, followed the members of Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division from training in Georgia in 1942 through some of the war's fiercest European battles through the war's end in 1945.

Its producers included Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Guarnere was portrayed by the actor Frank John Hughes.

Guarnere, whose combat exploits earned him his nickname, lost a leg while trying to help a wounded solider during the Battle of the Bulge. His commendations included the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.

2014 notable deaths

2014 notable deaths

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Jim Lange was the first host of the popular game show "The Dating Game." Though Lange had a successful career in radio, he is best known for his television role on ABC's "The Dating Game," which debuted in 1965 and on which he appeared for more than a decade, charming audiences with his mellifluous voice and wide, easygoing grin. (August 15, 1932 – February 25, 2014)

Comedy actor, director and writer Harold Ramis was best known for his roles in movies such as "Ghostbusters" and "Stripes." Ramis was a key factor in some of the biggest blockbuster comedies in the 1970s and 1980s. He co-wrote "Animal House," which starred fellow Second City alum John Belushi. He teamed up with Second City alums Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd on "Ghostbusters," in which Ramis co-starred and helped write. He also co-wrote and directed "Groundhog Day" and "Caddyshack," and co-wrote "Meatballs" - all of which starred Murray.(November 21, 1944 – February 24, 2014)

Maria von Trapp was the last surviving member of the famous Trapp Family Singers made famous in "The Sound of Music." The family won acclaim throughout Europe for their singing and escaped from Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938. Their story was turned into the film and Broadway musical. She was 99.

Garrick Utley began at NBC News in 1963, where for three decades he handled a wide variety of assignments. Early on, he reported from Vietnam on the escalating conflict. In later years, he moderated "Meet the Press." In 1993, he left NBC to be a foreign correspondent for ABC News. He reported for CNN from 1997 to 2002. (November 19, 1939 - February 20, 2014))

Staff Sgt. Walter Ehlers, who joined the armed forces in 1940, was the last living Medal of Honor recipient who stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day. He earned his Medal of Honor "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty" on June 9 and 10, 1944, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. (May 7, 1921 - Feb. 20, 2014)

Mary Grace Canfield was a veteran character actress who played handywoman Ralph Monroe on the television show "Green Acres." Canfield had appearances on a number of TV shows during a four-decade career, including "General Hospital" and "The Hathaways." She was Harriet Kravitz on four episodes of the 1960s series "Bewitched."But she was best known for her role of Ralph Monroe in some 40 episodes of "Green Acres," which ran from 1965 to 1971. (September 3, 1924 - February 15, 2014)

Ralph Waite played the kind patriarch of a tight-knit rural Southern family on the TV series "The Waltons." "The Waltons," which aired on CBS from 1972 to 1981, starred Waite as Ralph Walton, and Richard Thomas played his oldest son, John-Boy, an aspiring novelist. (June 22, 1928 – February 13, 2014)

Fashion designer Michele Savoia designed hand-crafted suits for celebrities and had a boutique on the Lower East Side of New York. Savoia reportedly dressed Robert DeNiro, Matt Dillon and other notables. (1958 - 2014)

Sid Caesar was the prodigiously talented pioneer of TV comedy who paired with Imogene Coca in sketches that became classics and who inspired a generation of famous writers. In his two most important shows, "Your Show of Shows," 1950-54, and "Caesar's Hour," 1954-57, Caesar displayed remarkable skill in pantomime, satire, mimicry, dialect and sketch comedy. And he gathered a stable of young writers who went on to worldwide fame in their own right - including Neil Simon and Woody Allen. (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014)

Shirley Temple was the dimpled, curly-haired child star who sang, danced, sobbed and grinned her way into the hearts of Depression-era moviegoers. Temple was America's top box-office draw from 1935 to 1938, a record no other child star has come near. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranking of the top 50 screen legends ranked Temple at No. 18 among the 25 actresses. (April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014)

Maxine Kumin was a prolific New England poet and U.S. poet laureate who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for her work "Up Country." Kumin wrote more than three dozen books of poetry, fiction, nonfiction and children's literature. (June 6, 1925 – February 6, 2014)

Ralph Kiner slugged his way to the baseball Hall of Fame and then enjoyed a half-century career as a popular broadcaster. When he retired, Kiner was sixth on the career home run list. Several years later, he joined the broadcast crew of the New York Mets for their expansion season in 1962 and became a permanent fixture - the home TV booth at Shea Stadium was named in his honor. Known for malaprops - he once even forgot his own name on air - he took the occasional slips in stride.(October 27, 1922 – February 6, 2014)

Philip Seymour Hoffman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 2005 biographical film Capote, and received three Academy Award nominations as Best Supporting Actor. He also received three Tony Award nominations for his work in the theater. (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014)

Joan Mondale was given a grand platform when her husband was elected Jimmy Carter's vice president in 1976. And she used it. The avid arts advocate lobbied Congress and the states for more spending on arts programs, and she traveled frequently to museums, theaters and artists' studios on the administration's behalf. She was so passionate that she earned the nickname "Joan of Art" and, in the process of pushing her cause, transformed the role of the second lady. (August 8, 1930 – February 3, 2014)

Austrian-born actor Maximilian Schell was a fugitive from Adolf Hitler who became a Hollywood favorite and won an Oscar for his role as a defense attorney in "Judgment at Nuremberg. Despite being type-cast for numerous Nazi-era films, Schell's acting performances in the mid-1970s also won him renewed popular acclaim, earning him a best actor Oscar nomination for "The Man in the Glass Booth" and a supporting actor nomination for his performance alongside Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave and Jason Robards in "Julia." (8 December 1930 – 1 February 2014)

Pete Seeger was the banjo-picking troubadour who sang for migrant workers, college students and star-struck presidents in a career that introduced generations of Americans to their folk music heritage. He wrote or co-wrote "If I Had a Hammer," ''Turn, Turn, Turn," ''Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine." (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014)

Chet Curtis was the voice of the nightly news for New Englanders for nearly 50 years. "You really can't lie to a camera and the camera just loved Chet," said Jim Coppersmith, former WCVB president and general manager. "He was honest, he was real and he was human." As a reporter and anchor, he offered generations of New Englanders a front row seat to the Boston visits of Queen Elizabeth and Nelson Mandela. Anchoring with his then-wife Natalie Jacobson, the names Chet and Nat rolled off the tongues of television viewers as one. They were known in almost every household in New England. (1939 - 2014)

Russell Johnson was the actor who played "The Professor" on "Gilligan's Island." Johnson was a busy but little-known character actor when he was cast in the slapstick 1960s comedy about seven people marooned on an uncharted Pacific island. (November 10, 1924 — January 16, 2014)

Robert H. Quinn was a dominant figure in Massachusetts politics for decades. A 12-year state representative, he served as speaker of the Massachusetts House from 1967 to 1969. The Legislature named him attorney general in 1969, and he won the seat in an election in 1970. (January 30, 1928 - January 12, 2014)

Sam Berns was a teenager whose battle with a rare genetic condition that accelerates the aging process became the subject of an HBO documentary. Berns was diagnosed with progeria when he was 22 months old. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, after being introduced to Berns and attending the HBO premiere of the documentary in New York in October, made a $500,000 matching pledge to the foundation. He was 17.

Ariel Sharon's half century as a military and political leader in Israel was marked with victories and controversies. The Israeli statesman was a national war hero to many Israelis for his leadership, both in uniform or as a civilian, during every Israeli war. He was a major figure in many defining events in the Middle East for decades, including his decision to turn over Gaza and parts of the West Bank to Palestinian control. (26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014)

Donald Forst was a veteran newsman who led New York Newsday and the Village Voice as they won Pulitzer Prizes and also worked as editor at the Boston Herald. On its website, the Herald wrote " (Forst is) credited with saving the Boston Herald by turning a sleepy broadsheet into the lively tabloid it is today and nurturing a generation of the nation’s top journalists in Boston." “It was a boring broadsheet and doomed to be the second paper in this town and becoming a lively tabloid established an identity that made it into a very potent second paper," said former Herald Executive Editor Bob Sales. Forst was 81.

George Goodman was a journalist, business author and award-winning television host who under the pseudonym "Adam Smith" made economics accessible to millions of people. Starting in the 1950s, the elder Goodman had a long, diverse and accomplished career, whether as a founder of New York Magazine, as a best-selling business author or as the personable host of "Adam Smith's Money World." (August 10, 1930 – January 3, 2014)

Alicia Rhett was an actress who played one of the sisters of Ashley Wilkes in "Gone with the Wind." Rhett was the oldest surviving cast member of the 1939 film starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable. (February 1, 1915 – January 3, 2014)

There is no more beautiful sound than the voices of siblings swirled together in high harmony, and when Phil and Don Everly combined their voices with songs about yearning, angst and loss, it changed the world. Phil Everly (R) was the youngest of the Everly Brothers who took the high notes. He left a towering legacy that still inspires half a century after The Everly Brothers' first hit. He was 74,

Juanita Moore was a groundbreaking actress and an Academy Award nominee for her role as Lana Turner's black friend in the classic weeper "Imitation of Life." Moore was only the fifth black performer to be nominated for an Oscar, receiving the nod for the glossy Douglas Sirk film that became a big hit and later gained a cult following. (October 19, 1914 – January 1, 2014)

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